


Doesn't Matter

by EnsignCelery



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Crossdressing, Fluff, Gen, Too Much Damn Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-01
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-18 10:04:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4701998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnsignCelery/pseuds/EnsignCelery
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Ryan, it doesn’t make sense for me to try and assure him that liking women’s clothing doesn’t make him any less of a man. But, you? If a guy like you told him liking girly shit is okay, he’d be more way likely to believe it.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Doesn't Matter

**Author's Note:**

> This is based very loosely on a [prompt](http://rtshippyprompts.tumblr.com/post/97128639174/freewood-fic-where-gavin-actually-enjoys) I found on Ragehappy Prompts. It was originally supposed to be a Freewood fic, but I kind of just let the inspiration flow~
> 
> And this happened.
> 
>  **EDIT:** It has been pointed out in the comments that "crossdressing" may be a term that offends some, which I completely understand. I apologize if it's a word you aren't comfortable with, but it is used rather heavily in this fic. Please avoid reading if this is a word that triggers you in any way, lovelies. ♥

Gavin wearing panties to work had surprised absolutely no one.

Sure, there were a few comments here and there from concerned friends about the health of his testicles but, for the most part, everyone just assumed that the promise of cameras had been the entire reason he’d accepted the bet with Meg in the first place. Gavin had gone on record many a time, after all, saying that he’d do just about anything as long as it was on camera. Wearing a new article of clothing that was hidden away the majority of the time was nothing, Ryan imagined, compared to the apparent trauma of making out with another person’s wife on camera and then later being forced to relive it over a charity livestream.

Still, that hadn’t explained the squirming, the flushed cheeks Ryan had caught out of the corner of his eye throughout the day. It didn’t explain why Michael, who usually took every opportunity to tease his work neighbor, was unusually quiet after judging Gavin’s reactions to the first few scathing comments aimed in his direction

That’s not to say that Ryan was expecting it when Meg pulled him aside a few weeks later.

In fact, Meg’s matter-of-fact, “remember when you told me about your thing for skirts?” surprised Ryan enough for him to slam his hand over her mouth and drag her into a nearby empty room, creepy TV kidnapper style.

Once the door was kicked shut, blocking out the bemused expressions of the coworkers they’d sidled past, Ryan had managed to calm down some. Still, he found that he was shaking a little bit from… what? Embarrassment? Anger?

“I thought we agreed that was a _private conversation_ , Miss Turney?”

If there was one thing he could say about the woman in front of him it was that she had some pretty unshakable confidence when the opportunity called for it. She ignored the hissing deadliness of his tone and instead unflinchingly peeled his clenching fingers away from her face, fixing him with a steady look and a small, knowing smile.

“I wasn’t going to announce it to the office of anything,” she said calmly, reaching up to rub the small red impressions left from his clenching fingers. “I was just using it to segue into a different conversation.”

Ryan could feel the corner of his eye twitching to match his still shaking hands. Okay, yes, a little bit of annoyance mixed with an anxiety-laced endorphin rush. That sounded about right. “Well, pick a less sensitive segue next time. Please?”

“Can’t.” A pause to examine her nails. “I mean, how else am I going to bring up that my boyfriend won’t admit he has a thing for crossdressing and that I need someone to show him the ropes?”

“I see,” he said slowly, feeling the words out on his tongue while he remembered. Dissected. Came to a conclusion. “And you think Gavin would be more comfortable with me introducing him to crossdressing than, say, his loving girlfriend?”

“I do, actually,” she countered easily. “He gets uncomfortable when I bring it up. I’m a girl, Ry, it doesn’t make sense for me to try and assure him that liking women’s clothing doesn’t make him any less of a man. But, you.” Here she paused to gesture, to wave a well-manicured hand from his forehead and down to his toes. “You’re a fuckin’ _Dorito_ , man. If a guy like you told him liking girly shit is okay, he’d be way more likely to believe it.”

He supposed he could see that.

“But, still,” he said, the start of a whine leaking into his tone, “do I really have to be the one to show him the ropes? I don’t even know where I would start.”

“Well… how did you get started?”

\---

Women’s shirts were so much softer than men’s.

He wasn’t sure why the sizes were so odd, but once Ryan found a size that fit him he remembered being so excited to finally get one on, to feel the buttery material as it caressed his chest and clung tightly around the stomach. Blouses were even better than t-shirts, but Ryan had started small when he had first started purchasing women’s clothing and he figured that was the best place to start with Gavin as well.

Surprisingly, though, it was Michael who noticed first.

It shouldn’t have been surprising, considering how many times Michael had borrowed Lindsay’s clothing and vice-versa, but somehow it still was.

“Whoah, Ryan,” the younger man’s voice called out across the room, “I didn’t realize you and your wife ran so close in size, man. You mix up your laundry this morning or something?”

Ryan hadn’t been expecting someone else to notice, somehow. A grievous mistake, in retrospect, as it had him physically flinching away from the conversation before he could stop himself. A sharp pair of green eyes swinging around to observe his reaction made him flinch once more before he shook himself out of it, remembering why he had worn the piece of clothing in the first place.

He had intended to bring it up casually but cautiously when he was close enough for only Gavin to hear. He had wanted to judge his reaction, but not make it into a _thing_ , as they were wont to do in the office. He was, after all, still a bit in the closet with his own crossdressing habits. But now it felt as if every set of eyes in the vicinity were focused on him and his anxiety was climbing by the second.

But Meg had asked him a favor.

And Ryan was the type of man that jumped at the opportunity to help a friend in need.

“It’s not my wife’s, actually,” he managed after a moment. “She can’t stand this color,” he added, motioning to the deep shade of red he was wearing.

He noticed Gavin’s eyes follow his hand as he gestured to the garment and imagined he could feel those sharp eyes stop at the slight bunch of fabric around his pecs.

“A tragedy, dude,” Geoff commented from somewhere off to the side. “It looks pretty fuckin’ good on you. I bet she’d look amazing in it.”

“It really does,” Michael added, smiling widely. “Glad to see you’ve finally joined the dark side, Ry. Women’s shirts are super fuckin’ comfy, aren’t they?”

“ _God_ yes,” Ryan sighed out, happy to see that the teasing wasn’t going to start up over such a small change.

“Too bad they’re so fucking clingy, though,” Michael said, turning back to his computer monitor. “Every time I wear them the fangirls start up again and Lindsay starts getting possessive. It was funny the first few times, but now it’s just gotten weird.”

\---

With the initial introduction of women’s clothing into Ryan’s wardrobe a success, Ryan decided to keep the bar where it was for a few weeks. He didn’t wear women’s shirts every day (Michael hadn’t been kidding about the fangirl comment), but he slipped them in every few days, just to see what would happen.

The guys had stopped making comments after the second day, but Gavin’s gaze had only gotten more scrutinizing. More intense.

Sadly, Ryan still hadn’t piqued Gavin’s interest enough to illicit any sort of non-joking comment from the lad. So, as anxious as the idea made him, Ryan knew it was time to up the ante a little bit.

Or a lot.

Nice blouses were not meant to be worn with baggy blue jeans and ratty tennis shoes. Ryan may have been nervous about showing up to work in his personal stash of clothing, but he just could not bring himself to mix his feminine clothing with his masculine clothing in such a way. It seemed disrespectful.

So he had to brace himself for the inevitable comments when he walked in to work in a pair of women’s dress slacks and a silky black and white v-neck blouse, a gray cardigan looped over his arm that would hopefully protect him from the inevitable chill that would seep in through his lightweight clothing choice. He felt a little silly with his backpack thrown over one shoulder, but he had drawn the line at buying purses. He didn’t see the practicality of owning such an expensive little bag when he could buy a backpack with triple the storage space for the same price.

And, boy, did the comments come; everything from surprise and confusion (“Whoah, man, what the fuck? Who did _you_ lose a bet with?”), to lighthearted jokes (“Are you guys shooting something new today? Should we look out for Jack in a dress?”), to some surprisingly flirty comments from pretty much every female member of the staff.

“Ryan, my man!” Barbara had said with wide eyes when he had passed her in the hallway. “Your ass looks _fantastic_ in those pants. What do I have to do to bribe you into wearing them every day for the rest of your life?”

Ryan, though, found that he was a lot less nervous than he thought he would be. None of the comments had bothered him, really, in the end. Most of them had been either neutral or incredibly positive and the few cracks at his masculinity had been lighthearted and spoken in a way that left him knowing they weren’t serious. Miles had even followed his up with a question about where he’d bought his outfit so that he could shop there, too.

Holy shit, his coworkers were amazing.

But the real test was entering the Achievement Hunter office and, thank god, it was the easiest test of all.

Jack said nothing. Michael had looked him up and down and given him a thumbs up and returned to setting up his next recording. And, Geoff? Geoff had given him a once-over before frowning exaggeratedly: “Dude, what the fuck? That sort of thing would look way better with a pencil skirt. Not to mention how great your legs would look in one.”

Ryan hummed softly, conscious of the pair of green eyes burning into his back as he answered.

“I just bought these and wanted to show them off,” he said smoothly. “I’ve got a ton of skirts, but these pants are hard to find in my size. Plus, you know.” A small shrug. “Pockets.”

“ _Please_.” Geoff laughed, shaking his head. “You and I both know women’s pants don’t have real pockets.”

Gavin’s eyes flashed back and forth between them as their conversation continued.

“Yeah, okay, you’ve got me there. But these pants apparently make my ass look _fantastic_.”

“If you don’t own a skirt that makes your ass look fantastic you aren’t buying the right skirts, Ry.”

“You just want me to show off my legs.”

“ _Yes_ , dude. Why do you think I keep buying you those knee-high socks?”

Ryan laughed along with Geoff, but his eyes were focused on wide green, on a slightly gaping jaw. On the way Michael was side-eying his younger friend and his reaction to the conversation. On the way Gavin opened and closed his mouth a few times as if he wanted to join in on the conversation but just couldn’t get his voice to cooperate.

“Alright, alright, Geoff,” Ryan grinned, satisfied that he’d finally gotten Gavin’s attention. “If it’s that important to you I’ll wear a skirt tomorrow. But one of the longer ones, dude. Gotta maintain _some_ modesty, you know?”

\---

Gavin didn’t even make it through the rest of the day before caving in.

During one of their filming breaks the lad had stood up, grabbed Ryan by the upper arm, and unceremoniously dragged him out of the room with little more than a quick, “Need to talk to Ryan, be back in ten” thrown over his shoulder as explanation.

Ryan allowed himself to be pulled into the very same room he had dragged Meg into weeks earlier, easy smile on his face contrasting heavily with the deep frown and furrowed brow of the young man standing in front of him.

“You own a skirt.”

It wasn’t a question. Gavin looked almost pained as the words left his mouth, his attention completely focused on Ryan even though he looked like he wanted nothing more than to run and hide from the conversation forever.

“I own quite a few skirts, actually,” he said softly, doing his best to smile in a reassuring way at the man in front of him. The harsh clenching of the hand still closed around his arm did not escape him. “I’m sure you heard me tell Geoff.”

“How can you just _say that_ , though?” Gavin choked out, his voice going high and his eyes wide. “How can you just admit to owning a fucking lady’s skirt?”

“I told you, I don’t own just one…”

“ _How can you just say it so bloody easy like that_?”

At this point there were most definitely bruises on Ryan’s arm and, try as he might, he could no longer ignore it. His answer, though, was still in as soft and calm a voice as he could manage while he pried Gavin’s fingers from his arm, ignoring the déjà vu feeling and flashes of red hair behind his eyes when he blinked.

“It’s not easy, Gavin.” A wince as he rubbed at his now freed arm. “None of this has been easy on me, you know.”

“Then why the _fuck_ are you doing it, Ryan?” Something close to hurt was edging its way onto Gavin’s face, the lad drawing in on himself, his arms slowly crossing over his chest. “Why’ve you suddenly decided that now’s a good time to suddenly flaunt all this, this,” he nearly spat out his next few words, “ _girly nonsense_ around the office, huh? Why _now?_ ”

Ryan flinched away from Gavin’s words, but he steadied himself.

Gavin had likely already figured out what this was all about. He’d no doubt seen the way that Ryan had been watching him, had already put together that it probably had something to do with his own foray into crossdressing. But, while this had started as something that he was doing as a favor for a friend, as a way to help another friend, he wasn’t sure that was what this was about anymore.

“Because.” He paused, waited until Gavin was meeting his eyes again. Met them head on. “Because there’s nothing wrong with me.”

“…What?”

“I mean, yeah, I started it because of you. I’m sure you’ve already figured that part out,” he nodded in acknowledgement. “A few of us noticed the panties and how defensive you got about them and were worried about you, and someone may have asked me if I’d be willing to help you through your shit so you wouldn’t be so fucking embarrassed about it.”

A darkly muttered _Turney_ slipped through Gavin’s lips, but Ryan barreled through it.

“But really, Gavin, this shit isn’t _easy_. No matter how great our coworkers are, they’re still fucking _assholes_ and I’m still just this quiet, nerdy guy who gets anxious and fucks up his words all the time and hates getting shit wrong, okay?” Ryan paused a few beats to breathe hard through his nose, his gaze intent. “I had told maybe two or three people, including my wife, before now that I was into this sort of shit. But Meg – yes, it was Meg, shut the fuck up – when Meg asked me to help you out, I decided to power through it, alright? I decided to help you out because you’re my fucking _friend_ , Gavin. But…”

He stopped, his words failing him.

The pause was apparently a little too long for Gavin, though. After a minute or so of silence, Gavin let out a quiet but intent, “But?”

Blue eyes flashed in his direction, earning Ryan a sheepish but curious smile.

“But,” he continued slowly, a hand coming up to run through his hair. “No one cared. No one freaked out or tore into me. No one called me out and made me feel like I was less of a man. Gavin,” he ground out, meeting that green gaze and smiling the tiniest of smiles. “ _No one_ _cared_. It didn’t matter. All they saw was me. They saw how nervous I was and, yeah, they commented on it, but they didn’t fuck with me or make me feel bad because it _there’s nothing wrong with it_. There’s nothing wrong with me.”

Gavin looked almost afraid at his next words.

“Gavin. There’s nothing wrong with _you_.”

\---

Ryan continued to slip women’s clothing into his work wardrobe, including the pencil skirt Geoff had requested and a few pairs of thigh-highs that Ashley had bought him when she’d seen the skirt. (That part was largely out of politeness, though, as Ryan hated the itchy nylon and lace.) He’d even worked in a few of the newer shirts and blouses that he’d picked out on shopping trips with Gavin in an effort to encourage the younger man to show off his own purchases around the office.

Even so, it had taken over a month to finally talk the man into wearing anything from the women’s department anywhere other than dressing rooms and his own living room.

With Meg’s encouragement and Ryan’s urging, Gavin had taken the plunge and gone straight from cargo shorts to simple box-pleat skirt, the fabric flowing down to his knees and complimenting his tight t-shirt and ridiculous shoes rather well, considering. Ryan was kind of jealous that the younger man had a girlfriend like Meg to lean so heavily on; his wife’s fashion sense was so practical that it was hard to get her opinion on anything of the sort.

Considering the time it had taken them to warm Gavin up to crossdressing at work, Ryan had made it his mission to walk into the office with him and Meg that morning, smiling fondly at the soft kiss they exchanged (and the indignant squawk Gavin let out when Meg ran a hand across his ass) before Meg went her separate way and glaring sharply at anyone who dared open their mouth upon seeing the British lad’s attire. But, in the end, he knew he wouldn’t be able to protect Gavin from their fellow Hunters and, with a squeeze to the younger man’s shoulder, he pushed the door open quickly and did his best to walk as nonchalantly to his own desk as possible, a quick “Morning!” flung over his shoulder as he crossed the room.

His casual greeting had the desired effect, with not a single pair of eyes leaving their screen (or, in Geoff’s case, the notebook he had his nose buried in at his desk, brows furrowed in confusion), right up until Gavin collapsed into his own chair with a quiet, “G’morning Michael.”

Michael, in the middle of his own greeting, froze completely upon seeing the man next to him, brown eyes wide and focused on the skirt draped softly around his friend’s thighs.

Gavin fidgeted under his gaze for a few moments, eyes fixed pleadingly on Ryan, as Michael worked his mouth open and closed a few times before yelping out, “GAVIN.”

Gavin’s eyes clenched closed, his hands wringing themselves together in his lap, as Michael continued, drawing the attention of the other men in the office.

“Gavin Free, you son of a bitch!” Michael shouted dramatically. “What the actual fuck is this?” He paused, flailing his arms a little in emphasis. “Who the fuck told you that pink was your color, dude? I’ll fucking stab them!”

Jack snorted out a quick laugh before returning to his work while Geoff shook his head quietly to himself, squinting once more at the scribbled mess of handwriting on the page in front of him. Gavin still looked a little like he was about to cry.

“But _Michael_ ,” he choked out, voice cracking. “Turney said it _had_ to be pink! And Ryan said I looked lovely today! Didn’t you, Ryan?”

Ryan threw his hands up defensively when both men turned to him, Gavin with relief shining in his twinkling eyes and Michael with his face twisted in a fake rage that did nothing to disguise the blinding grin across his face.

“Come on, Michael, Meg’s right! I think pink looks really good on him!”

“Nope, nuh-huh,” Michael said, spinning his chair back around to face Gavin once more. “You should definitely go for some pale green or something, dude. These fuckers have no idea what they’re talking about. Need something to make those stupid fucking eyes of yours _pop_ , okay?”

“If you say so, Michael?”

“I _do_ say so. Which is why we’re going shopping after work, so Lindsay and I can show Meg a thing or two about how to keep our boi looking his best.”

“But Michael…!”

“ _No buts!_ ”

Ryan could actually _feel_ the fondness radiating around the room as the two men bickered at their desks, and the stupid grin on his face only grew when Michael playfully wrestled Gavin out of his chair in response to some stupid thing Ryan had tuned out in favor of listening to the laughter echo throughout the room.

No one cared.

It didn’t matter.

They were just them.

**Author's Note:**

> Not gonna lie, I kind of half hate this fic because it came out way sweeter and gooey-er than I intended?  
> I can't write anything but fluff~
> 
> So, yeah. I haven't really edited it all that closely. If you find any glaring mistakes or, really, just things that caught your eye and bother you? Let me know in the comments. ♥


End file.
